Incandescent-cathode apparatus



W. D. COOLIDGEAND E. A. WAGNER.

INCANDESCENT CATHODE APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 24, 1919.

Patented Oct. 18,

' z/a'qzwwwm Inventors: William D.

Coolidge Edward A.Wa gner-,

Their Attorney.

;,UN D STATES-PATENT OFFICE.

:wmmm :o. coonmon, or scnmmcum'r, new YORK, AND EDWARD A. waonnn, or;

roar wanna, mnrnu, assrenons 'ro omrnaar. ELECTRIC eomrrazmr, aconro- R'L'IION OF NEW YORK.

" incmnnscm-ca'rnona Arrm'rus.

Specification of ietters mum.

' Patented Oct. 18, 1921.

' Application fled October :4, 1919. Serial 1;... 333,092,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, W'ILLIAM D. Coonmen, a citizen of .theUnited States, residing at Schenectady, coun ni Schenectady.l State 1 of New York, and nwanu A. WAGNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fort Wayne, county of Allen, State of In-Q dlana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Incandescent-Cathode 0 Apparatus, of whichthe following, is a specification. a I

. The present invention relates to the control of incandescent cathode. devices and particularly to devices in which an X-ray, 15. tube of the incandescent cathode type and" the supply transformer are operated in oil within a metal tank. vAs all high tension parts are insulated by the oil from the tank and only the lowtension conductors connected to the primary of the supply conductors pass through the walls of the tank,

a high degree of safety from electric shock is'aiforded the operator-and the subject in the use of the tube. This high degree of Safety would be lost were it necessary to-v cathode heating current and hence the current carrying capacity of the X-ray tube.

'- Thenovel features of .our invention will be pointed out with particularity in the appended claims'. For a complete understandlng of our invention reference should be had to the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawirig'iirwhich Figure 1 is an elevation of a device embodying ourinventiori, with a wall re moved;Fig. 2 is a detailedview taken at {5 vright angles to Fig.- 1 showing a ratchet mechanism for operating a 'rheostatin the 'cathode circuit; ig. 3 1s .view of'the cathode socket and" attached ',.v.m'echanism, and Fig. 4 is a diagram of cir-"- 5.0,ci1itl 1connect1ons.-

Referrm to' Fig. 1, the apparatus,- com rises'a transformer having a primary windin -5 and secondary c'oils e and 7,4;0 the terminals of which-en 'X-ray' is cona sectional detail is fastened to the rod 37. The movable con-" 105 in one -direction by the pawl 27, through the -nected by the. conductors .9 and 10. The

transformer, tube and connected parts are immersed in a body of oil- 11. The transformer 'is carried by the cover plate 120i the apparatus by pairs of metal bands 13 and 13., which, as indicated in Fig. 2, are

fastened to the transformer core let by bolts,

one of whichis shown at 15. The X-ray tube 8 is connected by suitable insulating supports 16 and 17 to the cover plate 12.

The X-ray tube 8 is of thewell-known' incandescent cathode type, and therefore" will not be described in detail herein. As

shown diagrammatically in Fig: 4, the oath ode- 19 comprising a filament of suitable refractory material, such, for example, as tungsten, 1s connected by the conductors 10,

20 to thewinding 21 of the transformer. Included in the cathode heating circuit, is

an adjustable resistance 22, which in Fig. 2 has been indicated as .a coiled wire mounted on the insulating support 16.

The finger 24, which makes contact between the resistance 22 and the transformer secondary, may .bew noved by a double ratchet mechanism to include varied amounts of resistance in the circuit.- Thetwo ratchet wheels have teeth pointing in opposite directions, although but one wheel 26 is indicated in Fig. 2 for the sake of clearness.

The two ratchet wheels are shown in Fig. 3

as 26, 26'. Engaging respectively with each set of ratchet teeth are pawls 27, 28, operated by rods through buttons 30, 31-, set in the walls of the tank.

The buttons are connected to the tank through-flexible metal bellows 32, 33, known in the trade as Sylphon metal. A pawl 27 vis connected to a 'metal tube 34 which slides through-a ring '35 connected to the support 16. The tube 34 is connected at its which may opposite end to a non-conductive rod 23' be moved against the coiled s ring. 36 =by pressure upon the but'ton 30.

liding within the tube 34 is a rod 37 connected to a non-conductive rod 38 whichmay be operated by-pressure upon the butmounted on a ring 40 which in' turn is tact finger 24' may be moved step by step button 30. Pressure" upon the button 30 5011131 against Pi' g 39. The pawl 28- causesthe pawl to engage the of the A cure by Letters Patent of the United States,

ratchet and release of the pressure causes the spring 36 to return the button 30 to its original position, thereby disengaging the pawl 27 from the ratchet. In the same manner the contact blade 24 may be moved stepwise in the opposite direction through the button 31.

. The cathode conductors 10, 20, are connected to the members of a screw-socket 42, contact from the resistance 22 being made from the spring clip 43 at the base of the socket, and the lead 10 being brought to the socket shell. The X-ray tube 8 is provided at the cathode end with a base such as used in' incandescent lamps which engages with the socket42. Each of the ratchet wheels is provided with a blank space 44: as indicatedin Fig. 2 so as toprevent engagement of the respective pawls after the contact blade 24 has reached the limit of its travel. While we have described one embodiment of our invention, we wish it to be understood that this description is only illustrative of the principle of our invention and that the Same may be carried out by other means.

What we claim as new and desire to se 1. An electric apparatus comprising a high voltage transformer, an incandescent cathode tube connected to the high voltage terminals thereof, a sealed housing for said transformer and tube, a regulator within said housing for varying the current carry' ing capacity of said tube and means for changing the setting of said regulator from the exterior of said housing.

2. An apparatus comprising a tube having a cathode adapted to operate at incandescence, an inclosing tank, energy supply means within said tank for heating said cathode and for transmitting current through said tube, a device in said tank forvarying the heating current supplied to said cathode, and means sealed into said tank for operating said device from the exterior of said tank.

3. An X-ray'apparatus comprising an X ray tube having a cathode adapted to be operated at incandescence, a transformer, circuit connections for supplying the cathode with heating current from said transformer,

4 said impedance'device from the exterior of said tank.

4. An apparatus comprising the combination of a tube having a cathode adapted to be operated at incandescence, a transformer, circuit connections for both operating said tube and heating said cathode from said transformer, a rheostat in the transformer heating circuit, a tank inclosing said tube, transformer and rheostat, a ratchet mounted in said tank connected to a movable element of said rheostat, a flexible diaphragm in the Wall of said tank, and a link connected to said diaphragm for operating said ratchet.

5. An X-ra-y apparatus comprising an X- ray tube having a cathode adapted to be operated at incandescence, an\inclosing tank for said cathode, a rheostat within said tank connected in the cathode circuit ofsaid tube, a flexible bellows mounted in the wall of said tank at opposite points, a ratchet mechanism for adjusting said rheostat mounted in said tank and rods extending from each of said bellows to said ratchet and adapted respectively to operate said ratchet mechanism in order to adjust said rheostat.

6. An apparatus comprising the combination of a tube having a cathode adapted to be operated at incandescence, an inclosing tank for said tube, a body of oil there- 1n, a transformer'in said tank for operat- 1 ing said tube, a cathode heating circuit, an impedance device connected in said circuit, a mechanism within said tank for adjusting said impedance device, and a resilient member sealed into said'tank for operating-said mechanism from the exterior of said tank.

In witness whereof, WILLIAM D. COOLIDGE has hereunto set his hand this 17th day of October, 1919, and EDWARD A. WAGNER has hereunto set his hand this 20th day of October, 1919.

WILLIAM D. COOLIDGE. EDWARD A. WAGNER. 

